Louis Delmas to Lions: I'm ready to 'turn the program around'

Kalamazoo Gazette fileFormer Western Michigan star Louis Delmas was the first safety taken in the NFL Draft.

Detroit takes former WMU safety with 33rd overall pick

KALAMAZOO -- Louis Delmas let out a deep sigh, and then a "huh."

The former Western Michigan University free safety had just seen his name called on TV Saturday as the 33rd pick of the NFL Draft. The Detroit Lions, on the phone with Delmas for more than 10 minutes, kept their word.

"I embraced it for a minute," Delmas said, "then thought, 'Got to get back to work, like I did in Kalamazoo, go do my thing.'"

The Lions are hoping Delmas doing his thing bolsters a defense that ranked last in the NFL during last season's 0-16 debacle. They took him with the first pick of the second round, their third selection overall.

Delmas, as expected, didn't sound daunted by the Lions' situation.

"When I think about it, I was supposed to go to the Lions," Delmas said by phone from Miami. "The Lions went 0-16 last season, with me coming in. Going into Western Michigan the first year, it was the same thing. They won one game the previous year. I look at it as the same situation. I've got to go in and turn the program around."

Delmas will fly to Detroit as early as today -- he wasn't sure on the arrangements -- before returning to Michigan next weekend for the Lions' minicamp.

Louis Delmas

"They told me, just like any other rookie, go in and do whatever you have to do to get on the field," Delmas said of his conversations with numerous members of the Lions' brass. " ... That's what I plan on doing."

Delmas, a four-year starter at WMU and three-time All-Mid-American Conference selection, is the second-highest selection in Bronco history, behind only Jason Babin (27th in 2004).

"It's great," WMU coach Bill Cubit said. "Now you get selfish by having him close by. I might get a chance to see him, get over there and make a game."

The other man Delmas considers a father figure, North Miami Beach High School coach Jeff Bertani, spent Saturday with Delmas, talking him out of a draft-day fishing trip.

"He thought we should stay on land," said Delmas, who watched from the home of high school and college teammate E.J. Biggers, whose family all but adopted Delmas as a teen-ager.

As most of the defensive backs remained on the board late in the first round, Bertani and Co. were rethinking that decision.

"We were kind of on edge," Bertani said. "Things were going a little crazy with a lot of defensive backs not being taken. ... I'm the happiest man in the world right now.
"He loves being up there. Michigan has treated him well. It's a great fit."